Inkjet printers are used for a variety of purposes, from desktop to production printing. For example, an inkjet production printer is a high-speed printer used for volume printing (e.g., one hundred pages per minute or more), and may include continuous-forms printers that print on a web of print media stored on a large roll. While a continuous-forms inkjet printer operates, the web is quickly passed underneath the nozzles of printheads of the printer, which discharge ink onto the web at intervals to form pixels.
Although most of the ink dispensed by the printheads is transferred to the web, some amount of ink remains on the nozzles of the printheads, and this amount may vary depending on the viscosity of the ink used. In order to clean the printhead nozzles and ensure that congealed ink does not interfere with the printing process, print operators sometimes use wipers to scrape off residual ink before the ink congeals. However, residual ink accumulates on the wipers as they clean the printheads and as a result the quality and effectiveness of subsequent cleanings deteriorates over time.